Sharing Our Favorite Rowdy Stories

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download

Episode: Sharing Our Favorite Rowdy Stories
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Dirty Mo Media, SiriusXM)
Date: May 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is a heartfelt tribute to Kyle Busch, following the NASCAR star's sudden passing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and several prominent NASCAR personalities come together to share personal memories, assess Kyle’s complex legacy, and reminisce about both his showmanship and his impact on the sport. The episode is a mix of grief, admiration, candid storytelling, and poignant reflection—offering listeners new insight into the man many knew as “Rowdy.” The panel addresses not only Busch’s reputation as a “villain” but also the lesser-known, genuine side of him off the track.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Processing Kyle Busch’s Passing & Legacy

• Shock and Disbelief:
  • Dale talks about the initial shock of learning about Kyle’s passing, reflecting on his disbelief and the depth of personal messages being shared among drivers and community members (04:10).
  • “It's been good… I've gotten a good feeling about it.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (04:10)
• Learning About Kyle Off-Track:
  • Hosts discuss being surprised by the extent of Kyle’s friendships and his supportive role in the NASCAR community, much of which was not publicly visible (04:10–05:30).

2. Personal Anecdotes and Stories

• Last Text & Racing Plans:
  • Dale recounts last communicating with Kyle just before his passing, discussing plans for Busch to race Dale’s late model in the CARS Tour and how Kyle wanted to race with Dale Jr.’s iconic “8” number.
    • Notable quote:
      • “I was texting with him the day before he passed away about getting together this Thursday...and he goes, I want to run the Dale Jr. 8.” — Dale Earnhardt Jr. (05:00)
• Kyle’s Playfulness with Fans:
  • Kyle enjoyed teasing fans, sometimes stepping into the role of a villain just to see fan reactions, but didn’t truly want to be disliked (06:36, 09:56).

3. The “Villain” Persona and Desire for Respect

• Unfair Reputation:
  • Dale recalls how Kyle felt boxed in by the “villain” narrative from his earliest days in NASCAR, describing how media comments and racing incidents led to a tough start with peers (07:51).
  • “Kyle wanted to be liked. Kyle wanted to be a fan favorite…But he had to lean in, he kind of just had to embrace and lean into it at some point.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (09:51–10:35)
• The Search for Affirmation:
  • Kyle’s motivation was rooted in a quest for respect and acknowledgment of his statistics and achievements (10:35–11:38).
  • “He kept winning and winning and look around and go, look at what I'm doing...where is the acknowledgement?” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11:38)

4. Hall of Fame, Milestones & Comparisons

• Hall of Fame Debate:

  • The group discusses whether to immediately induct Kyle into the NASCAR Hall of Fame or follow normal procedures—with consensus that Kyle deserves to be the first unanimous selection (14:24–17:26).
  • “He should be the first unanimous selection… Anybody that doesn’t vote for him gets their hard card taken away.” – Martin Truex Jr. (14:33)
  • Debate over instant induction vs. respecting the formal process and grief period (15:15–16:36).

• Statistical Greatness:

  • Panelists compare Kyle’s 234 top-three NASCAR series wins to Richard Petty’s 200 Cup wins, noting the difficulty of Kyle’s era and the evolution of the sport (17:26–18:39).
  • “How many rules did NASCAR have to change for him?...How many more would he have won if they didn’t do that?” – Kurt Busch (17:43)

5. Rowdy Off the Track: Humanizing Stories

• Jared’s First Meeting:
  • Jared describes his first interaction with Kyle, being nervous to meet the “brash” persona only to find Kyle welcoming and encouraging (20:09–22:00).
  • “Kyle was just, he was, he was super welcoming… I just got some recognition from Kyle.” – Jared (22:00)
• Teammate Memories:
  • Cal shares about the longevity of his time as Kyle’s teammate—15 years, the longest in NASCAR history—and how their friendship was strongest after their teammate days ended (23:37–24:47).
  • “Sometimes you become better friends when you're not teammates.” – Cal (24:47)
• Industry Perspective:
  • Tribute paid to Kyle’s casual-fan recognition, likening him to synonymous figures in NASCAR (26:36).
  • “Kyle Busch is NASCAR. He, he is NASCAR. Like what is NASCAR?” – Jared/Cal (26:49)

6. Family, Grieving, and Community

• Samantha Busch’s Strength:
  • Deep admiration expressed for Kyle’s wife, Samantha, and family for attending the racetrack after his death, with hosts reflecting on the courage and pain of public mourning (31:13–32:14).
  • “I couldn't believe she was at the racetrack. I was taken aback by how strong she was to do that.” – Jeff Gordon (31:16)
• Navigating Grief in NASCAR:
  • Dale and Jeff discuss the challenge of finding the right words and support for those grieving (“There ain’t the right words…You just say what you feel…” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., 38:18).

7. A Defining Memory – The M&M’s Story

• Memorable Moment:
  • Jeff Gordon tells a touching story about Kyle surprising them with bags of M&M’s on Valentine’s Day at Daytona, breaking tensions and showing his softer side (34:19–37:22).
  • “He audibly says very loudly, happy Valentine's Day…and both of us were kind of like, really? You brought candy?” – Jeff Gordon (35:23)
  • Dale jokes about fearing the candy was “doctored” as a prank (36:41).

8. Tributes and the Way Forward

• Remembering Kyle at the Track:
  • Discussion of tributes, commemorations, and adjusting to NASCAR races without Kyle’s presence (37:34–38:13).
  • “It’s going to be tough going to the races over the next several weekends and not seeing his car out there.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (37:34)
• Personal Commitment:
  • Panelists reiterate ongoing support for the Busch family and the commitment to honoring Kyle’s legacy moving forward (27:01–29:02).

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. remembers texting Kyle right before his death:
  • “I was texting with him the day before he passed away about getting together this Thursday…He goes, I want to run the Dale Jr. 8.” (05:00)
• On Kyle’s desired legacy:
  • “He didn’t love being the guy that they booed. He didn’t want that…He just had to embrace and lean into it at some point.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (09:56)
• Discussion of Hall of Fame induction:
  • “He should be the first unanimous selection…Anybody that doesn’t vote for him gets their hard card taken away.” – Martin Truex Jr. (14:33)
• Kurt Busch on NASCAR’s evolving rules around Kyle:
  • “How many rules did NASCAR have to change for him?...And also I think the era that Kyle did it in is…Has been tougher. The toughest and the most competitive that we've ever seen our sport.” (17:43)
• Jared’s candid memory:
  • “Kyle was just, he was, he was super welcoming… I just got some recognition from Kyle.” (22:00)
• Jeff Gordon’s “Happy Valentine’s Day” story:
  • “He audibly says very loudly, happy Valentine's Day…and both of us were kind of like, really? You brought candy?” (35:23)
• Dale on grief and the NASCAR community:
  • “There ain't the right words. You just say what you feel and that’s the best you can do.” (38:13)

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Memorable, Emotional, and Revealing Moments (with Timestamps)

• Dale and Kyle’s last plans for racing together: (05:00)
• Panel explores Kyle’s deeper motivations and insecurities: (10:35–11:38)
• Panel discusses NASCAR’s unique grieving process, family tributes: (31:16–33:05)
• Jeff Gordon’s “M&M’s Bus” story illuminates an unseen side of Kyle: (35:23–37:22)

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Conclusion

This episode of The Dale Jr. Download functions as a living eulogy, layering racing war stories, personal admissions, and intimate tributes to give listeners a profound look at both the public “Rowdy” and the private Kyle Busch. With emotion, wit, and sincerity, Dale, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, and others demystify rumors and honor a complex friend and fierce competitor—one who deeply wanted respect and left an indelible mark on NASCAR.

Listeners come away with a new sense of Busch’s humanity, his legacy, and the strength of the community he leaves behind—on the track, in the garage, and at home.

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For more details or to dive into personal moments, see timestamps in each section above.

Transcript

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, the first thing I want to get to, obviously, is the passing of Kyle Busch. Yeah. And, you know, that was extremely. Still difficult to believe. I think a lot of people were. I don't know. I'm going to ramble here. This might make much sense, but over the last couple of days, you know, been texting back and forth with a lot of people about the disbelief and the. You know, the. The shock of it. And I was. One thing that I learned was Kyle. Was Kyle kind of surprised, I guess, how much he was talking and communicating with people over the last handful of days, people that I didn't know, that he had relationships and friendships or communication with other drivers and so forth. And we've learned what I've. What I've enjoyed, I guess, is learning more about Kyle, the person. You know, we know who he is on the racetrack. We know how he is on the racetrack and in the media and so forth, and what he was like at the track with the suit on and in that environment. And I knew him on a personal level, probably. You did, too, tj.

[True Work Announcer]

Yeah, some.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. But hearing how he interacted and how he was to others, the. You know, a joke they may have shared in a text or just. I don't know. You know, I've really enjoyed learning how. Who he was away from the track and how he interacted and engaged or treated or talked to other people. And it's been good. It's been a good. I've gotten a good feeling about it. I was texting with him the day before he passed away about getting together this Thursday to bring his seat for his late model over to my shop because we had agreed that he was gonna race our car in the Cars tour. He's gonna race my late model in the Cars tour. I was like, hey, man, you know, he. He's texting me, and he's like, what scheme we gonna run? And I was like, you can run any scheme you want. I was like, what number do you want to run? I was like, you got. I got a. You know, we can run 51. Whatever you want to run. And he goes, I want to run the. And he said it literally, the Dale Jr. 8.

[True Work Announcer]

That's cool.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And I Was like, you got it. That's what's on it right now. We'll run the Delgener 8. And he's giving me a head explosion exploding emoji. And he said, race fans, not a badass. And so, yeah, and my sister sent me this text, a picture of him coming out on the intro. I think it was at Fontana. And they had announced he. We're behind this. Where this is the Hendrick days, when I was at Hendrick and he was in Eminem's car, and he's like, hey, I'd qualified in front of him. And he. He was like. Or I'd call. I was getting ready to get announced. I guess I qualified behind him. And he was like, they're going to announce you. I'm going to walk out. He's like, I want to mess with the fans. I'm like, yeah, go ahead. So they announced me and he walked out and they're cheering, you know, and he comes out and waves. So he loved, you know, we talked about it a little bit, I think, on this show some, but he kind of loved the. The To. To poke and prod and tear the villain.

[Pennzoil / Take Five Announcer]

He was a showman.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He loved Kid. Yeah, the. The dynamic between our fans. And so I, you know, I. I really. I just really have a hard time believing that he. He passed. And I think that that's gonna take a while. You know, I think it's gonna take real. No, it's one of the things you don't want to have to come, you know, come to terms with in life. You don't want to believe it. Yeah, I've. But I've really enjoyed just hearing some of the. Some of the stories and the other thing, too. And I think I said kind of trying to allude to this on the broadcast was at the front of the show. So Kyle. Kyle in his. In a large majority of his career. If I could take a stab. If I could take, you know, a stab at how I think Kyle thought and what kind of person he was.

[Kurt Busch]

He.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He was so frustrated that he was kind of cast the villain. Kurt had had some, you know, struggles and run ins with different drivers, with Jimmy Spencer and so forth, and there was sort of this. There was a bit of a negative tone around Kurt at that point. And Kyle comes in and head. Been cast in a negative way, and he. I remember him saying, that wasn't fair. I got, you know, people have made this assumption about me that wasn't fair. And I think his first race at daytona in the 500, his first year, he made a couple of moves on the back straightaway, and me and Tony Stewart made a comment to the media about it, and it was really nothing more than same things we would say about it, same things they said about me. You know, he's got to figure it out. It was a little reckless. You know, I wouldn't have made that move, that kind of stuff. We get to Fontana maybe a week or two later, and he comes walking by the car on the way to his car, and he stopped at my car, and I'm on the passenger side. I mean, I'm on the driver's side now. He's on the passenger side. And he said something over the roof of the car like, man, you better watch it, what you're saying in the media. And I was like, what? You know what? That was weird. He's mad. You know, he took that really personal, right? That was not that big of a deal. And so we kind of never got. We didn't get off on the best foot. And then. So it. I think Kyle. Kyle wanted to be liked. Kyle wanted to be a fan favorite.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

He was.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There's. There's fans of his listening to this show going, he was a fan favorite. He had fans.

[True Work Announcer]

He did.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He did. But he wanted. He didn't love being the guy that they booed. He didn't want that. He didn't choose. Prefer to be polarizing, but he had to lean. He kind of just had to embrace and lean into it at some point. And so he did. And. But he didn't prefer that. He didn't want that.

[True Work Announcer]

When you win like that, you're gonna get booed, dude.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

They booed Darrell Walter in 82, 83, when he's driving a Duke car and winning every week. They booed the hell out of that man. Part of it, yes.

[True Work Announcer]

I think he learned that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[True Work Announcer]

Over time, for sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But I. He wanted to. So Kyle as He's. He's. I think deep down in there, Kyle wanted affirmation. He wanted approval. He wanted people to recognize his statistics, his greatness, his. His wins. He wanted everybody to. He kept winning, right? And he win and win and win and look around and go, look at what I'm doing, you know, and where is. You know, where is the acknowledgement, Right? Look at what I've done. He wanted that. And we all weren't as quick to give it to him. So he would keep. He would keep trying to, you know, I'm gonna win a hundred o'reilly races. I'm gonna win. I'm Gonna, I'm gonna be the most, I'm gonna be the, I'm going to win more races in this, I'm going to do this. I'm going to win at every racetrack that I run on in the NASCAR world. And he just had these little milestones and things that he wanted to achieve.

[True Work Announcer]

He's vocal with him too.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And he was vocal with him because he's like, when are y' all going to acknowledge this? You know, and he was frustrated, I think, that people weren't as quick to celebrate him like they might Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt, you know, and, you know, that, that bothered him a little bit. I think once he, you know, I think Samantha helped him a lot with that. Being married, becoming a father, some of the priorities shifted.

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[Jeff Gordon]

All right. Spot on. Spot off. Kyle Busch should instantly be added to the NASCAR hall of Fame. Ready?

[Martin Truex Jr.]

Well, I'm gonna say spot off. I mean, he should be. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. But I want to say spot off just for the fact that I want Kyle to be. And this is a call out to all you and everybody else in that room. I want Kyle to be the first unanimous selection to the hall of Fame. So I think he should. Whatever the waiver period is that he's got to wait for retirement should be waived. He should be on the ballot for next year, and anybody that doesn't vote for him gets their hard card taken away, essentially.

[Jeff Gordon]

Period.

[Martin Truex Jr.]

You know, that's just the way I feel about it, you know? Yes. You know, I saw. I think Jeff and Jordan were talking about this, um, like, Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash and they kind of waived it and had their own special vote for him just by himself. And, I mean, they could do that for Kyle. Then he will definitely be 100% because there's nobody else to vote for, essentially. But I really want him to go through the process. And even timing wise now, like, it doesn't feel right to just add him in there when everybody's still kind of grieving and stuff, like, let it. Let it kind of settle, and then he should start collecting his accolades.

[Kyle Busch]

I think I'll say this. Knowing Kyle, like, when he would roll the racetrack on a weekend, he wouldn't want to just be handed the trophy. And I think he likes going through the. Part of what drove him and what got him fired up was going through the process and just going out and showing everybody, like, hey, I'm. I'm a badass, and I'm gonna go out and earn this trophy. So like with the hall of. I agree with like the, maybe waving the, the couple year retirement thing, but I think Kyle would appreciate more having. Going through the process and having everybody like, this guy's one of the greatest of all time. And like you said, the 100%, like, there shouldn't be anybody that says Kyle Busch does not go into hall of Fame this year. So I think he would appreciate it more. Obviously, he's earned it. I don't want to, I don't want to misspeak or word it improperly, but I think he would get more of enjoyment out of it seeing everybody go there and vote and everybody's telling good stories and, and then be like, yep, Kyle, you're in. Because we all think you, you, you, you've earned it. And we, everybody in this room agrees with that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, take.

[Martin Truex Jr.]

I mean, I mean, he's gotta be. Listen, you better vote for it.

[Jeff Gordon]

I was gonna say, you're in the room.

[Jared]

Listen, I mean, I agree with, with both of you guys. I mean, I think it is too early. I mean, let's, it's devastating, right? Let's put it, let's give the people that earned it right now chance to enjoy that. The only thing I hope, hope that we all come to agreement is allow three in next year. All right? Because there, there's, it's, it's the same

[Martin Truex Jr.]

thing that keeps happening. Like.

[Jared]

Right. Let's, let's just. Yeah, this is the. Kyle Bush's in. Okay. Martin Truex is going to be, you know, part of it. All right, let's do three, not just two, because then you're going to have, you know. Yeah.

[Martin Truex Jr.]

Eric, as a, as a race fan, I have said on here before and the number changes. I think it's at 234 now. 234 career NASCAR wins, top three series. Is that a more impressive stat than Richard Petty's 200 cup wins?

[Kurt Busch]

Well, I look at Kyle and the fact that, I mean, how many rules did he make did NASCAR have to change for him? You know, there was the age thing at California back in 2000 because Marlboro was sponsoring the IndyCar race that weekend and they wouldn't let him run the truck. Then there's the number of races in the lower series. How many more would he have won if they didn't do that? And then Steve o' Donnell said at the media briefing that Kyle texted him Tuesday and said, you should really have an over 40 rule because I want to run the whole truck season. And he probably would have been the first driver ever to win a championship in all three series, man. And also I think the era that Kyle did it in is. Has been tougher. The toughest and the most competitive that we've ever seen our sport. So not to take anything away from what Richard accomplished and the number of times that they were racing in a calendar year back then, I would say so.

[Martin Truex Jr.]

Yeah, I agree. Hershey agree with that. You won 100 of them.

[Kurt Busch]

Yeah.

[Jared]

How many, how many did you win?

[Kyle Busch]

95 with the 95 plus the late model. Those are just points paying ones. I don't count the All Star race.

[Jared]

I seen somebody else had 2.234/102.102 possibly would have been all the other races. Yeah, I've seen a couple of people had some pictures of that, of 234 +102.

[Jeff Gordon]

Maybe that's the legend car B mains and all those things that we were starting to try to stretch for Rowdy Nation.

[Cal]

Obviously there's been a lot to be said about, you know, Kalbush and his impact. And I did a lot of interviews over the week, not necessarily because I wanted to do them, but I thought it was like, all right, you honor his legacy by getting his story out there. You know, you go on these different shows and morning shows. I think I went on Good Morning America and others and was like, you know, these are not typically our fans that would be watching this are like, let's get, let's get the story out there. And did SportsCenter with Marty Smith. Me and a few drivers did that as well. But Jared, you didn't get interviewed this week or weekend, but obviously you posted on your social kind of the, your favorite moment, which, which I liked a lot. It was, you know, was that kind of your first interaction with Kyle.

[Jared]

It was so like I. I was with you Thursday afternoon right when. When we got the news. And then I drove home and was home that night and I'd posted a few snippets of that. Of that. That moment on my Instagram story. And I went to bed and I woke up like a few times throughout the night just like still thinking about that. And I was like, man, I feel like I'm not doing it justice and I need to share the whole thing. Right? The few moments that I put on my story earlier in the evening just like, wasn't enough. Um, so, yeah, I put that together at. I don't know, it's like 4:00am or something. Um, but yeah, it was my first, first moment and really want to think back to it, it was my first significant moment in nascar. You know, like, for me, I grew up watching the sport, I grew up playing all the video games. I knew every driver. I very much was brought up in nascar. So like, when I started working in it with you, I had a background in it, right? And I, I looked at all of you guys as these larger than life figures. And that moment, I mean there's championship four. You, Martin Trix Jr. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick at the time, right? You guys are the four, right? And yeah, and growing up, I only knew Kyle from his, his Persona of rowdy on Sundays, right? He was brash, take no prisoners, was always good for a sound bite. So I'm thinking like, oh my God, I got to run through New York with this guy. Like, this is quite intimidating. You know, who am I? I'm just this young 25 year old

[Cal]

who doesn't really camera toten y who

[Jared]

like doesn't really belong here. And yeah, Kyle was just, he was, he was super welcoming and I just. That one, I. When we got back to the hotel, I handed my phone, I was like, okay, now like record like a selfie or something. He's like, here we are, we made it back to the hotel, beat these guys did it here with my, my little buddy. And I was like, wow, I just got some recognition from Kyle. I was like, now we're going to go to the racetrack and he's not going to blow me off. Like now I can say hi to him as we pass. And, and that never really. Um. But yeah, that was my first interaction and the last one, a few weeks ago we did a little Hendrick cars shoot with, with Kyle Larson and Kyle was obviously driving the, the seven Spire Hendrick cars truck or was supposed to drive that truck on Friday here at Charlotte. And so we did a little photo shoot with him. And that was right after he did that interview. Or he was talking about you saying he, you know, he didn't still have it, whatever, all of that. So I was thinking, I was like, man, I gotta go face to face here with Kyle. I gotta like walk him through what I have planned for him. I gotta take his headshot. I'm like, he's probably gonna give me. And again, I'm just like a little intimidated because it's Kyle Busch and he, he didn't do that at all. He was, he was awesome to work with. He didn't give us a hard time whatsoever. He was great in every way. So that headshot that I posted that, you know, led that story about the pennies and running through New York was the last time that I interacted with him a few weeks ago here in Charlotte.

[Cal]

Yeah, I mean, we were, I was actually surprised to hear that. We've been teammates longer than anyone else in history of NASCAR.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wow.

[Martin Truex Jr.]

Yeah.

[Cal]

15 years. There'll be, there'll be teammates that pass that down the line. You know, the. Eventually, like Byron and Elliot and Larson. Those guys, they started really young, so they'll. I'm sure they'll pass it one day. But yeah, we were teammates for a very long time. 15 years. And I don't know what our head to head record is, but I can tell you what it felt like. Felt like most weeks we were running second to the 18 and so. Which is really, really good. He was one of the very few guests we had on this podcast. People ask all the time, why don't you have this driver on? That driver on. I'm like, yeah, just. I'm not a great interviewing guy. But Cal made it really easy because it was just like we just been cutting it up about all these old stories and stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So.

[Jared]

Yeah, I remember that before he came on, you were, you were like, what are we going to talk about? You know, like. And then as soon as he gets on, happens, it just happens. And you guys had a great hour and a half conversation.

[Cal]

Yeah, it's good. And, and certainly, you know, he, I, I saw the transition of him over the years and kind of how, you know, he went from being really young and in my mind, kind of immature and to just starting a family and getting married and the evolution of him, his personality on and off the racetrack, it just, it changed a lot and it was, it was definitely a pleasure to, to see that. And you know, sometimes you, you become better friends when you're not teammates. I, it was like that for me with Tony Stewart and many other, my ex teammates. Just, you know, you just, you don't appreciate them until they're gone. And then like, then you have that, you know, that, that, that friendship that, that, that bond that starts. And so it was good to, you know, had that last appearance with him there at Dover that was kind of unexpected, unplanned. He was early, right? Yeah, yeah, he was early and he came on when I did and I think it was like the track side with Monica and, and those guys. So it was good and you know, it, you know, you just never thought, you know, it's such a shock and it's such a, it's so unexpected and doesn't seem real because, you know, I mentioned it when we did tv. It was, you know, you think of these people as larger than life. So like, surely they're, they can't, they can't be taken out. Nothing can. You know, they're invincible.

[Jared]

Right.

[Cal]

And so it's just in crazy, unfortunate set of circumstances and, you know, we're, you know, definitely racing, Racing his honor from here on out.

[Jared]

Yeah, I think you said it best in your, your interview SportsCenter with Marty Smith on Sunday. And Steve O' Donnell said the same thing is that Kyle Busch is nascar. He, he is nascar. Like what is nascar?

[Cal]

Well, to the casuals, right? Like, it was just a name that casuals knew.

[Pennzoil / Take Five Announcer]

I knew it and I was new to the sport. Like, I didn't grow up watching the sport, but I knew Kyle Busch. Eminem's like, you knew who this guy was.

[Cal]

Well, because he won. And so, you know, when it plays on the ESPN ticker at the bottom, who won the NASCAR race? Kyle Busch wins. Kyle Busch wins. And he did it 63 times. So it just was a name that like kind of picked up a little bit where, you know, the. Jeff Gordon's retired, things like that now as Jeff Gordon's retiring. Cal's hitting his prime. And it was just a casual name that or a name that casuals knew about nascar. Like, hey, name three NASCAR drivers that one of the very first they've named is Kyle Busch. So yeah, it's, you know, the family just showed tremendous courage, you know, coming to the racetrack and subjecting yourselves to, to being out there. And yeah, great moment. Caught Kyle Larson's son Owen, you know, going up and giving Braxton a hug. So just. Oh, it's just heart wrenching for sure. I, I didn't get to see any of that. I was on the grid and so, you know where I'm at. I can't see anything. I had no view of the, the Jumbotron there, so couldn't, couldn't see any of what was going on pre race, but obviously saw the highlights on social media. But yeah, just, you know, it. We just are going to think about the family and obviously Samantha or Brixton, anything that they need from us or me personally, then we're, we're going to go above and beyond. Samantha was one of the first people that, that helped my mom after the fire. You know, she, she was able to contribute and reached out and helped us. And so that family is very, very caring and our thoughts are with her.

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

we went and did the race this weekend and you know there was a ton of, you know, focus on that and a lot said around Kyle and everything and you know this is your kind of first public opportunity

[Jeff Gordon]

to it is we have been thinking about Samantha and the kids, heavily praying for them every day. But I just wanted to send our condolences and let everyone know that we too are really sad and it's been a lot. We've been talking about it every day and can't believe that it actually happened. Still trying to wrap our heads around that he's gone and I couldn't believe that she was at the racetrack. I was taken aback by how strong she was to do that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, we talked about it on our Tuesday show.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah,

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

we were in the booth. It was five minutes before we were getting ready to start ceremonies and kind of hit. Hit the. Hit the go button. And I had. No one knew. I didn't know she was there. But somebody. Steve said, they're here.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah, he.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Steve grabbed me by the shoulder and said, hey, Samantha and the kids are here. And I mean, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

[Jeff Gordon]

I know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I was like, really? They're here. I couldn't believe it.

[Jeff Gordon]

I was sitting on the couch. We had just gotten back from Texas and I went to go visit my family and celebrated my grandfather's 90th birthday, which was so fun and amazing. But then I get home and then engulfed again with just being sad and mourning a friend. But I'm sitting on the couch watching the pre show. We're going to watch you. The girls are watching you. And I was thinking to myself, I wonder what she's doing to, like, keep herself busy and what's her day look like right now? And all of a sudden she's on the screen. And I was unwell. Try not to cry now. But yeah, we were just really sad for them.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Jeff Gordon]

Well, that was a lot of fun memories, too. And I wanted to share one of my favorite ones about Kyle, please. Okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So I'll be honest with you. That's like my favorite thing about these last several days is hearing all of the fun stories because I have known. Listen, now, I don't want to rob your moment, but I knew Kyle for the longest time as a extremely tough competitor. And, you know, we. We, you know, we had a tough. You know, I said. I said in my quote, my tweet that I don't know if I chose a perfect word for it, but our existence was tough for a while.

[Jeff Gordon]

It was like two magnets that didn't. They didn't go together like they wanted. They wanted to fit, but they just couldn't figure that out.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I like to be friends with everybody, and it bothers me when I'm not. And. But, you know, we just. We. We weren't able to. I didn't know, you know, how to. I don't know that he knew. I don't know. But we. We just. We had the wrong idea of each other.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah. For sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But it's fun how it's been great last couple of days hearing all these stories.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

About him. The person he did Have a very

[Jeff Gordon]

different side to him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He did.

[Jeff Gordon]

And the very first time we got to see that, to be honest, was it was Daytona 500 week. And I don't know what year this was. He was running the M and M's car. And we're in the bus just hanging out and Biden time. Dale Jr. Doesn't like to chit chat, have friends over. We're not playing around. We're not. We're not like having a lollygag kind of a weekend. When he's there to race, his game face, so to speak, is on. And that's. That's what we're doing. And so we don't have a lot of knocks on the door.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Basically, I'm in a.

[Jeff Gordon]

He's in a mood since the moment

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I get to the track.

[Jeff Gordon]

He is grumpy because he feels like that's the only way to get through the weekend is to just be focused.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, it's just like I'm not.

[Jeff Gordon]

And he's stressed about I don't want performance.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't think get the wrong idea. I'm not not wanting to be there. It's just I want to practice well, I want to race.

[Jeff Gordon]

He wants it all to go well. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It all to go well. And it's like, let's just get out there and get to get to doing it.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah. So sitting around in the, in the bus was a lot of silence or watching TV or eating or whatever we're doing. Not a lot of like playing around.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Jeff Gordon]

We get a knock on the door, and there's a little window above the door. And so usually he's sitting on the couch and I'm messing around. And so I look out and I'm like, it's Kyle Busch. Oh. Drivers don't come over just to hang out. Usually when a driver comes to knock on the door, they have words. There's something that needs to be discussed. Same thing with the crew chief. They don't just come over to hang out. And so I'm like, dale, it's Kyle Bush. And he goes, no. I was like, yeah, it's Kyle. And I'm like, I'm not answering it. You better get over here. So he comes up off the couch and peeks out the door, and he just kind of like props it open a little bit and is like, hey, man, what's up? And I could hear him audibly say very loudly, happy Valentine's Day. And he's got bags of M and Ms. To share. And both of us were kind of like, really? You brought candy? He's like, yeah, man. Happy Valentine's Day. There's pink, there's red. There's all kinds of flavors here. He gave him, like, four or five bags of candy and then went on his business like he was giving candy to everybody. And Dale and I just looked at each other like, holy smokes. I can't believe he was smiling. He was happy. It was like a version of Kyle I had never seen before.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He came up in there.

[Jeff Gordon]

He did?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yes. He come up in the bus about, you know, into the kitchen area.

[Jeff Gordon]

Oh, okay. So he just came right up the stairs. Yeah. The door is right in the middle of the bus. I remember him coming in.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He didn't say in the M&M's and leave.

[Jeff Gordon]

In my mind, it was a very short.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I joked with him. I said. I joked with him. When he handed to me, I said, are these safe to eat?

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah. Well, so, yeah, poison them. He and Kyle said, no, they're safe. But we put them in the freezer anyway. We didn't eat them. And Dale's like, I ain't touching them until we get home at least, because there is no way he's going to give me laxatives or whatever might be in it before this race starts. It was really nice to see Kyle in that moment, and from then on, I feel like both of us kind of looked at him in a different way and so. And he put himself out there. I mean, that was a risky move coming by, not to know what mood you were going to be in either, just to share some candy. So I thought it was wonderful. Yeah, it was like the beginning of a new.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It was the very beginning of us sort of starting to, you know, be friendly.

[Jeff Gordon]

Be friendly. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep. Yeah.

[Jeff Gordon]

So I feel like I'll always think of him, too now when I look at a bag of M&M's, especially.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, hell, yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. It's going to be tough going to the races over the next several weekends and not seeing his car out there. And there'll be a lot of tributes and. And moments, and everybody's trying to figure out how to do those tastefully.

[Jeff Gordon]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Even here at Junior Motorsports, we're kicking around ideas and so forth, but, yeah, I mean, it's. You know, it's something I've. I've experienced through the industry when there's loss and there's processing and it's hard

[Jeff Gordon]

to know what to say. It's hard to know how to support everyone's different and everyone's experience with it is different.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There ain't the right words. You know, there's not like this. No, there ain't. That's the. There is not the perfect thing to say. You just say what you feel and. And that's how. That's the best you can do. And there is. You know, when you talk to somebody who's grieving or somebody who's dealing with loss, you have to tell them, like, there's no magic button to push or there's not. You know, you just have to work through it every single day. And.

[Pennzoil / Take Five Announcer]

Yeah, and everybody grieves in their own way.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Everybody handles it differently. That's true.

[Jeff Gordon]

So Samantha's 40th birthday is actually Monday, this coming Monday. So she's got a lot on her plate, and hopefully she can find a little joy at least on that day.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, I'm gonna tell you, man, that was. That was amazing, that moment. I'll never forget it. I don't think I've. I mean, there. I will never forget how all the industry, all the drivers, everyone that was standing around behind them and the emotion on everyone's face. So.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

All right, don't forget about stopping by the online merch store.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

We have some new stuff dropping called

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

the zero to freedom line. This drops on May 6th.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Let's take a look at some of

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

these shirts in the Zero to Freedom line.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Look at that. Full sin since 2013.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Nice one, man.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Good.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Clean on the front.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And on the back you got the American flag with a bunch of looks like some gen 5 race cars, star stripes and stock cars.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

And then another clean front there on

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

the blue, dirty mo. And again, the eagle.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Zero to freedom.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And if you don't want sleeves, we got this number.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Check it out at shop.dirtymomedia.com May 6.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

A couple of those new shirts will be on there for you guys to enjoy.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

All right. That was another episode of the Dirty 30, presented by Arby's. New meet in 3 box. Get more meal for your money. Arby's. We have the meat.

[Monday.com Announcer]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I absolutely love it.

[Monday.com Announcer]

Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind. Now they live inside Monday.com so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff. Knowing everything runs smoothly in the background, it's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Combination.